Library

The Cambridge Archaeological Unit (CAU) undertook the archaeological monitoring of the construction of a main water pipeline from Great Saling to Rayne by Anglia Water and its agents between the 22nd September 2008 and 13th March 2009. The pipeline commenced at Great Saling and traversed the upland glacial plateau of North Essex, at present a largely open arable landscape. The pipeline terminated at Rayne in close proximity to the A120 Stane Street a major Roman road connecting Colchester to St Albans. The monitoring produced evidence of activity on the upland from the Neolithic period to the Late Iron Age.

A trench-based evaluation, comprising three trenches, was undertaken at the Parkside Fire and Rescue Station site, Cambridge, between the 12th and the 21st of September 2011. This revealed that the site had previously been subject to intensive gravel quarrying activity. Although no earlier, pre-quarry features had survived, two distinct types of quarry pit were identified. The first of these consisted of a series of haphazardly arranged sub-oval features, one of which was found to contain abraded Roman pottery (although the majority of these quarries appear most likely to have been medieval in origin). Subsequently, however, during the 17th century, the site became the focus of more intensive 'strip-type' extraction techniques. A large number of deep, straight-sided linear pits were inserted at this time, and between them these features removed almost all of the remaining natural gravel. Following the Inclosure of the site in 1807, its by now irregular and uneven terrain was landscaped and a relatively high-status villa - Peters Field (or Petersfield) House - was constructed. This was finally demolished in 1963-4 in order to allow the erection of the Parkside Fire and Rescue Station.

An open area excavation, covering an area of 49.2m2, was undertaken at Orchard Court, Murray Edwards College, Cambridge, between the 19th and the 27th of July 2011. This revealed the presence of a number of features of Roman date. Most significant amongst these was a portion of a metalled surface associated with a series of underlying make-up deposits. Constructed in a single phase, most probably during the 2nd century AD, this feature represents a direct continuation of a northwest to southeast-oriented surface that was first identified at the site in 2009. This metalling has therefore been identified as comprising part of the Cambridge to Godmanchester road. Flanking this road to the northeast were a series of intercuting quarry pits, which also contained 2nd century material along with residual Iron Age worked flint. It thus appears possible that these quarries were first utilised during the road's initial construction. In addition, four further features were also present at the site. These included a shallow gully, forming part of a probable roadside enclosure, and three further intercutting pits, all of which contained material dating to the 2nd to 3rd centuries AD. Finally, circumstantial evidence indicating the presence of a relatively high-status Roman building in the near vicinity was also recovered.

An archaeological investigation was undertaken to address a pre-determination request by Cambridgeshire Historic Environment Team to help inform planning consent for the construction of housing with associated services and access on land off Lynn Road, Wisbech, Cambridgeshire (TF 4760 1105). A total of seventeen test pits and five trenches, totalling 300m, were excavated. The investigation identified that the site was situated on fen silts in excess of 4.5m thick along with traces of modern farming and manuring.

An archaeological recording programme was undertaken by Cambridge Archaeological Unit (CAU) on works at Park Farm, Madingley, Cambridgeshire. Four areas were machine stripped and prepared for the construction of new farm buildings, totalling 5645.45 square meters. The site consisted of existing buildings with associated concrete and hardcore surfaces and was bounded to the east, south and west by cultivated fields and to the north by Madingley Park.

Cambridge Archaeological Unit undertook an archaeological evaluation on land located at the western periphery of the village of Blofield, Norfolk; between the 23rd of August and 1st of September 2011. A geophysics survey had identified potential features which several of the trenches targeted, whilst the remaining trenches were evenly distributed across the proposed development area. Several undated and post-medieval ditches and other features were recorded, whilst adjacent to Yarmouth Road a series of medieval ditches, gullies and small pits were present.

An open area excavation, covering an area of 49.2m2, was undertaken at Orchard Court, Murray Edwards College, Cambridge, between the 19th and the 27th of July 2011. This revealed the presence of a number of features of Roman date. Most significant amongst these was a portion of a metalled surface associated with a series of underlying make-up deposits. Constructed in a single phase, most probably during the 2nd century AD, this feature represents a direct continuation of a northwest to southeast-oriented surface that was first identified at the site in 2009. This metalling has therefore been identified as comprising part of the Cambridge to Godmanchester road. Flanking this road to the northeast were a series of intercuting quarry pits, which also contained 2nd century material along with residual Iron Age worked flint. It thus appears possible that these quarries were first utilised during the road's initial construction. In addition, four further features were also present at the site. These included a shallow gully, forming part of a probable roadside enclosure, and three further intercutting pits, all of which contained material dating to the 2nd to 3rd centuries AD. Finally, circumstantial evidence indicating the presence of a relatively high-status Roman building in the near vicinity was also recovered.

A trench-based evaluation, comprising three trenches covering a combined total of 43m2, was undertaken on land situated off Woodhead Drive, Cambridge, on the 11th and 12th of October 2011. This revealed that the site had previously been subject to very limited anthropogenic activity. Although the sequence was well-preserved, only two archaeological features were identified. These consisted of regular east-northeast to west-southwest aligned furrows with shallow, concave profiles. Although undated, these features were most probably medieval in origin as they were associated with a well-worked subsoil deposit that contained 14th to 15th century pottery. This indicates that during the medieval period the site was situated within the open fields that constituted the rural hinterland of the nearby village of Chesterton. Above the subsoil, the remainder of the sequence comprised a layer of 19th century garden soil and a modern brick car park surface with associated hardcore.

An archaeological evaluation was conducted by the Cambridge Archaeological Unit between the 12th and 13th of September 2011 at the Old Rectory, Kingston, Cambridgeshire, in the vicinity of a high status 12th-13th century stone aisled hall with a 14th century cross wing. The evaluation revealed evidence for some 12th-13th century activity contemporary with the aisled hall and a 14th-16th century metalled yard surface and timber building contemporary with the cross wing.

Three phases of archaeological investigation - consisting of a test pit evaluation, a watching brief and an investigative trench - were undertaken within the First Court of St John's College, Cambridge, between the 26th of October 2010 and the 21st of March 2011. These works were focused upon the location of the former college chapel, which was demolished in 1869-70. This building had previously served as the chapel of the Hospital of St John the Evangelist, an institution that had been founded upon this site by c. 1200. Although limited in scale, the investigations produced a number of important results. In the first instance, a number of in situ masonry blocks were identified. These included the base of a stair turret, a door jamb and part of a clunch-built foundation, the latter of which most probably formed a footing for stalls within the medieval quire. Overall, it appears that the floor height of the chapel was raised by approximately 0.5m when the building was converted from ecclesiastical to collegiate use in 1514-6. The lower portion of this sequence thus appears to have remained relatively undisturbed when the chapel was demolished, and significant architectural remains of between two and four courses in depth lie preserved beneath the lawn of First Court.

An archaeological investigation was undertaken within the quire of Trinity College chapel, Cambridge, in advance of the introduction of a new underfloor heating system. Although restricted in depth, with the result that no pre-16th century deposits were investigated, a number of results pertaining to the original layout of the chapel were obtained. Firstly, it was determined that changes to the initial design of the structure that were undertaken in c. 1560 had effectively doubled the size of the quire. Most probably associated with this period were two substantial foundations that appear to represent the initial, abandoned location of the choir screen that separates the ante-chapel from the quire. Remnants of the chapel's original tiled floor surface were also encountered, along with a fragment of the initial 16th century stall foundations. Further to the east, the footings of the 17th century rerdos wall were also identified. In addition, a minimum of three burials were present within the investigated area, one of which contained an encoffined inhumation dating to c. 1660-80. These results allow the original 16th century layout of the quire to be reconstructed.

An architectural and archaeological investigation was undertaken in July 2011 within the Porter's Lodge of Trinity College, Cambridge, in advance of its refurbishment. Two categories of evidence were encountered during the course of this work. Architecturally, several elements of the Great Gate's primary, late 15th century fabric were identified. These included two substantial, clunch-built fireplaces along with two internal doorways. In addition, numerous later additions and alterations to the building's fabric were also recorded. Archaeologically, a range of features and deposits were investigated. In the first instance, associated with the initial construction of the Porter's Lodge in c. 1490 was the footing for an internal dividing wall and an extensive make-up/levelling deposit. Beneath the latter, the rubble-built footing of a timber-framed building was also encountered. This represents a vestige of the final phase of pre-collegiate occupation at the site.